


Taking One For The Team-No, The Family

by GachMoBrea



Series: The Unexpected Series [17]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst!, Because the others tell him, Blood, Danger!, Family Coming Together, Gen, Giant Squirrels!, Goes with the Series, Len doesn't realize what he has, OOC, Serious Talks, Team as Family, sooooo much angst, until he does
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-05
Updated: 2016-05-05
Packaged: 2018-06-06 11:46:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6752650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GachMoBrea/pseuds/GachMoBrea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barry takes an attack for Len. <br/>"I can't let you be the one who gets hurt all the time."</p><p>It's time for a heart-to-heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Taking One For The Team-No, The Family

A mad scientist has used Central City Zoo as his base of operations to perform his experiments. Now there are giant, rabid squirrels attacking the City.   
Barry is grateful that the scientist hadn't used the more vicious animals like the lions, tiger or bears. 'Oh, my,' Len had remarked with a smirk.  
None of that matter at the moment. The Flash had to get Cisco's Taser collars on the vicious fur balls.  
"These things aren't very practical," Barry complains, wrestling the bulky device on the fidgety animal. He's almost thrown off, but manages to click the collar place.  
"Hey, I had to make three dozen of those things, Barry," Cisco complains on the other end of the comms, "Do you have any idea how long it would have taken me to make that many collars look cool?"  
"About as long as it takes Lisa to get ready every morning," Len drawls, hitting another furry enemy, "Especially when she has a date."  
"It's a good thing she's not here, Cousin Cold," Cisco laughs, "Because you would be so dead."  
"It's nothing I haven't told her before," Len grunts, leaping over a stone wall to dodge a swipe a his face.  
"Is now really the time to be talking about this?" Caitlin sounds offended, "Besides, guys like to see a pretty woman and yet they are the first person to complain when we take the extra time to look nice."  
"I'm not complaining!" Cisco's voice is loud over the comms.  
"Stow it, guys!" Barry orders, zipping between two rampaging attackers so they ram into each other, "Sorry, I'm just having a hard time concentrating."  
"At least these creatures don't have mind controlling powers like Grodd," Caitlin says softly, quelled by Barry's reprimand.  
Cisco groans, "Oh, no, that would have been AWFUL! The world taken over by feral, mind-controlling squirrels."  
Caitlin giggles a little over the comms, "I know I shouldn't laugh, but come on."  
"Okay, kids, we better stop that train of thought before I say R-Rated things over the comms," Len says, "Cisco, how man more of these things do have left?"

"I'm tracking..." the genius pauses as he checks the readout, "30 out of 36 collars. You've got six left."  
"I can do simple math, but thanks," Len mocks. He jumps out from behind the stone wall and freezes two squirrel's hands together. They screech and claw at each other in an attempt to separate.  
"You're not torturing them, are you?" Caitlin asks, scared, "It's not their fault they were turned into-"  
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Squirrels," Cisco cuts in and earns himself a smack, "Hey!"  
Caitlin continues, "Dr. Blain changed their DNA and their just trying to-"  
"They're fine, Doc," Len cuts her off this time, "I'm only doing what I need to do to make it home tonight. I appreciate your concern for my well being, by the way."  
"It's not-I didn't mean," Caitlin stutters over the comms.  
Len chuckles, "You've just got too big a heart, Doc."

Barry manages three more collars while Len is fighting the other two and talking to their teammates. As he turns to add his own remark, he sees a large shadow behind Len.   
It's the last squirrel, unnaturally larger than the other 35 for one reason or another.  
There's no time to warn Len. The mammal's enlarged paw is already swiping down towards his partner.

Barry runs.

He runs as fast as he can or maybe faster because he has to get there.  
Len turns, shock and alarm changing the smirk on his face in slow motion as the paw comes closer... 

The paw connects - Hitting Barry in the shoulder.

"Gah!" Barry is thrown back with the blow, landing hard on his back a few feet from Len. The Cold Gun goes off and freezes the animal in it's spot as it roars.  
"Flash!" Len dashes to his side, forgetting to put the collar on the infuriated animal, "Barry, are you okay?"  
"Agh," Barry huffs against the pain, putting a hand to the bleeding wound, "That hurt. A lot."  
"Len, you've got to get the last three collars on those squirrels!" Cisco tells him, "We can't let any of these fur balls escape into the city."  
"I'm a little busy," Len growls. He rips the goggles off so he can look Barry's shoulder over, "Are we sure these things don't have rabies?"  
"There's no way to tell without a blood sample," Caitlin answers, "Please, Len, get the collars on first then we can take care of Barry."  
Barry grabs hold of Len's arm as it hovers over himself. Startled, Len focuses on the speedster's hard look, "Go. I'll be fine."  
"I'm not as fast as you and you're bleeding," Len's voice continues to growl.  
"It's not that bed," Barry shakes his head, glancing at the wound before turning his attention back to Len, "and I have super healing."   
Len looks at Barry, really looks, like he's using the speedster's eyes as a window into his very soul.

Then Len's blue eyes soften and he nods, taking off towards the remaining beasts as they continue to claw at the ice holding them.  
Barry pulls himself into a sitting position as Len holsters his gun and grabs two collars. Len goes for the two connected to each other first. He climbs up one beast, attaches the collar and leaps to the other, collaring the animal before landing on his feet. The two beasts fall and Len takes the last collar in hand and looks at the largest, and final, animal.  
Len turns to Barry and smirks. Barry is confused.   
Len turns back to the creature and gives his enemy an over-exaggerated frown. He first points at his own eyes with two fingers, then to the animal's with the same two fingers.  
Barry laughs, even though it makes his shoulder flare with pain.

Len charges at the animal, jumps, pushing himself up against a chunk of ice on the beast before wrapping the last collar on it and clicking it into place with deft fingers.  
The creature roars again, arms clawing at his throat the mechanism knocks it out.  
Len lands back on his feet and strides over to Barry like a hero out of a movie.

"That was so cool," Barry and Cisco say together.  
"Barry, how is your shoulder?" Caitlin ignores the stunned voices in favor of worrying over her friend, "You're readouts don't look so good."  
"I'm fine," Barry tries to calm her, "I don't even feel it as much anymore."  
"That's shock," Caitlin deadpans, drawing attention to her words, "You need to get back here so I can dress the wound and set you up with an IV."  
"You got it, Doc," Len says, grabbing Barry under his arms and lifting him to his feet, "Animal Control and the CCPD can clean up here while I get Scarlet to you."  
"I can run," Barry frowns as his legs wobble, "Why is it so blurry?"  
"Blood loss," Len deadpans in a replica of Caitlin's tone.  
"Ri-ight," Barry nods, "Blood is important. I shouldn't lose it."

Len glances at the alarming puddle of blood on the ground and scowls. He turns his eyes to Barry's wounded shoulder and flinches at how torn apart it looks.  
'How could Barry let himself get hurt so badly?'

Worried about the speedster losing any more blood, Len pulls Barry over to one of the stone walls to sit so he can remove his parka and get to his sweater. He rolls the fabric as tightly as he can, then ties the bulky 'bandage' around Barry's shoulder.  
"What's your parka doing on the ground, Lenny?" Barry points to the coat abandoned on the ground, "It will get dirty."  
"Shut up, Scarlet," Len snatches the thing off the ground and puts it on the speedster, zipping it closed and pulling up the hood.  
"Oh, so warm," Barry smiles wide, "How did you know I was cold, Cold?"  
Barry giggles and Len scowls again.

Len has to tie Barry's arms around his waist to keep the speedster on the bike.   
He guns the engine and zooms through traffic breaking every traffic law he has to in order to keep moving.  
"Hey! Watch it!" a man shouts when Len nearly clips him on the sidewalk.  
A woman screams as he passes her on a corner and drives back onto the street, nearly colliding with four cars as he passes a busy intersection.  
They honk and more than a few people shout and curse at him, but Len revs the engine keeps driving.

Cisco and Caitlin are waiting for him in the hidden garage entrance of STAR Labs. 

Len unties Barry's arms and Cisco helps ease the man back. Barry's unconscious.  
"That was some crazy driving you were doing there, Cuz," Cisco remarks as the two of them carry Barry to the infirmary, "Were you trying to get the both of you killed?"  
"Need for speed," Len remarks, but the joke's only half-hearted.  
"If you'll get the coat off him, Len?" Caitlin asks pulling a table of equipment closer to Barry on the bed.  
Len unzips and gently takes off the coat. Barry doesn't stir even after they remove the bloody 'bandage' and top part of The Flash costume.  
Caitlin gasps slightly at the damage, before her face scrunches up into concentration and she begins cleaning and repairing the wound.

Len takes the parka and bloodied sweater and throws both of them into a bio-hazard trash bin.   
"We could have saved the parka," Cisco remarks, putting up the IV on Caitlin's command.  
Len doesn't say anything. He merely crosses his arms over his chest and watches as Caitlin patches Barry up. His white undershirt is smeared with the speedster's blood.

It takes a few hours, but Caitlin manages to clean and sew up the wound without complications. There's blood and fluids pumping into Barry through an IV and Cisco has already returned to the computers in the other room to check on the squirrel containment progress.  
"All members of Furry Vengeance are contained," Cisco tells them later. Caitlin has cleaned up the area and smiles at the genius.  
Len hasn't moved from his spot. Frozen in place like a living statue.  
Barry is still asleep.

Caitlin shoots Cisco a worried look before approaching their teammate.  
"Len?" she asks, but there's no response. She glances back at Cisco. The scientist makes a 'go, go' motion with his arms but stays at a safe distance away.  
Caitlin shakes a fist at him, but turns her attention back to Len.  
"Len?" she tries again, this time a little louder.  
There's still no response. Len's eyes are still staring at the sleeping form on the bed.  
"Len?" Caitlin tries one more time, this time taking the man's elbow gently with one hand.  
Len jumps, arms uncrossing and eyes going wide in fear for a second as he looks at the scientist. Caitlin immediately pulls her hand away with a frown.  
"I'm sorry," she says softly, "I tried saying you're name but you weren't responding."  
"Sorry, Doc," Len relaxes, arms going back to their original position, "Did you need something from me?"  
"Were you hurt? During the battle I mean," Caitlin rushes through the second question.  
"No," Len's eyes darken and he turns them away from the concerned scientist so they can rest back on the man in the bed, "Not even a scratch."  
Caitlin follows his eyes and something clicks. Her shoulders sag and she steps into the man's line of sight, forcing Len to at least look in her direction if not directly into her eyes.

"This isn't your fault, Len," she tells him, keeping her voice soft and comforting, "Barry has been hurt before saving the City."  
"And that makes it okay?" Len immediate barks out, making Caitlin and Cisco jump.  
"Sorry," Len sighs, shoulder's tightening, "I'm sorry, it's just-"  
Len doesn't finish. Doesn't even shrug his shoulders. He merely keeps staring as Barry's chest rises and falls.  
Caitlin puts her hand on Len's arm and this time the man doesn't jump. He looks down at her and there are unshed tears in her eyes.  
"It's hard," she answers, voice heavy with sadness, "It's hard to see the people you care about get hurt and lie in a bed attached to wires and tubes."  
Len's glare softens as his shoulders lose some of their tension. Caitlin tightens her hold on Len's arm, "The best thing we can do for them, is be there for them until they get better. Make sure they know how important they are to us."  
Len's shoulders tense again, but Caitlin isn't done yet.  
"Len, we're a family," she follows the man's eyes as he tries to look away, "You, Lisa and Wentworth, you're a part of Barry's life now and a part of mine too."  
Len closes his eyes, shaking his head. It makes Caitlin a little angry.  
"It's true," she forces the words through a throat that threatens to clog, "You gave Barry that little boy and changed so much to be the man he knew you could be."  
"Doc," Len huffs out the name, unsure of what he means to say.  
"Don't you dare close us off just because something bad happened today," she orders him, voice suddenly strong, "Don't you dare be a coward and turn your back on your family."  
Something chokes in Len's throat but no one calls attention to it. 

Len takes in a deep breath and opens his eyes again to look at Caitlin.  
"Thanks, Doc," he smirks.  
"Anytime," She returns the smile, "Now let's get you a clean shirt."

 

As Barry starts to wake up, he knows there's something off about his surroundings. His head clears and he notices a weight near one of legs. He opens his eyes and they focus on the back someone's head lying near his leg.  
"Joe?" Barry asks, head still fuzzy with residual pain and sleep.  
The head jerks up and the face turns to him. It's not Joe, it's Len.  
"Len?" Barry frowns, confused, "Why aren't you home with Wentworth?"  
"Special Auntie Day with Lisa," Len answers automatically, though not convincingly. Barry can tell he's lying, "How are you feeling?"  
"Achingly sore with a side of painful," Barry smiles, "How about you?"  
"Me?" Len balks, brow furrowing.  
"Yeah, you, how are you feeling?" Barry almost laughs, but Len's expression stops him, "What's the matter?"  
Len shakes his head, "I can't do this."  
"What? Wait, what?" Barry tries to put himself up, but his shoulder flares in pain and he bites out a yell not expecting it.  
Immediately, Len's at his side, hands on Barry's good shoulder, and gently easing him back down.  
"Stay in bed," Len grimaces, "You're injured."  
"If I look half as bad as you, I should be concerned," Barry lets Len ease him back down, but he reaches out to grab the other man by his wrist, "What's going on?"  
"Why did you do that?" Len answers with a question, eyes looking at the monitor showing Barry's heartbeat instead of the speedster's eyes.  
"Do what?" Barry asks, baffled.  
"Why did you jump in front of that thing?" Len turns piercing blue eyes to Barry, "Why did you purposely let yourself get hurt?"  
Barry huffs out a laugh of exasperation, "We're a team you know. Besides," Barry grins, "I can't let you be the one who gets hurt all the time."  
Len shakes his head, but he doesn't pull out of Barry's grip, "You shouldn't have."  
"What?" Barry tightens his hold, he's angry, "What did you just say?"  
"You shouldn't have gotten hurt for my sake!" Len bites out between clenched teeth. His hands are shaking fists and his head is bowed too low to see his eyes.  
"And why not?" Barry shakes the other man with his grip on his wrist, "Why shouldn't I have saved you?"  
"Because I'm not worth it!" Len finally rips himself out of the speedster's grasp. He moves away from the bed to pace back and forth a few steps, "I'm a criminal, Barry. A no good thief who's KILLED people. I don't deserve-I don't-"  
Len can't finish his sentence. He glares at the floor, defeated and angry.  
"If Wentworth can only have one of his Dads I would rather he have you." Len speaks so softly, Barry almost misses it. His heart breaks for the man standing before him.  
Then Barry gets angry. Very, very angry.

"You jerk," Barry whispers.  
Len's head pops up to look curiously at Barry. Barry is glowering at him, radiating barely contained fury. Len takes an unconscious step back.  
"How dare you stand there and talk like that to me, ME!" Barry pushes the sheets and blankets away. He moves to stand.   
Len doesn't stop him. He's cemented to the ground trapped in Barry's glare.  
"I lost my mother at 10," Barry says, getting his feet on the ground, "My dad went to prison for her murder even though he didn't do it," Barry winces when he stands, but pushes through the pain. This is more important.  
"I was betrayed my a man I looked up to," Barry removes the cables and IV, the machines lowly beeping in protest, "I lost a good friend who sacrificed himself to save me," Barry takes two strong steps so he's standing right in front of Len, "My world was falling apart with every passing day and no amount of speed could stop it."  
Len keeps staring into Barry's eyes. His mouth opens a few times, but clamps back shut. There's nothing he can think of to say.  
"Then some Meta shows up and starts causing trouble," Barry tilts his head a little to the side, "And one of my greatest enemies shows up to help me."  
Len swallows. His eyes dart to the door, but he can't get his legs to work.   
"That Meta gave me something using that same enemy and for the first time in my life, things weren't going down hill," Barry smiles sadly for a moment, before changing back to his serious expression, "She gave me Wentworth Allen Snart and the friendship of a man I never thought I could have."  
Len finally finds the strength to move as he tries to take another step back, anything to get away from that angry and determined look Barry is giving him.  
Barry grabs hold of his wrist again and doesn't let him.  
"Our son loves you with all his heart," Barry's eyes are wet and shining, "You mean the world to him and you mean a heck of a lot to me too."  
Len shakes his head minutely, this isn't real-This can't be happening!  
"You are part of my family, Len, and I will always do whatever I have to in order to keep you safe," Barry releases his hold on the other man, "And don't you dare think for one second that you don't deserve that."

Caitlin comes rushing into the room, out of breath for a few moments as she looks at the scene in front of her, "Barry? Len?"  
"Seems like I'm fully of sorries today, Doc," Len offers the confused scientist softly, "I told you I wouldn't be a coward, but I almost was one anyway."  
Caitlin takes a tentative step closer to them, but not enough to crowd the two men.  
Len smirks, it's a little forced but somehow genuine as well, "I suppose I just needed to be told off twice for it to sink in."  
"I can give it to you for a third time if you want," Cisco joins the small group. Caitlin offers him a smile, before returning her attention to Barry and Len.   
Barry hasn't stopped looking at Len.  
"Super healing or not, you should get back in bed," Len offers Barry his arm and the other man takes it. Four shuffled steps and Barry's back in the bed and Caitlin reconnects him to the machines.

Once Caitlin's done fussing over him, Barry puts his hand straight out in front of himself, palm face down.  
Len raises an eyebrow while Caitlin and Cisco look at the hand like they've never seen it before.  
"To family," Barry says firmly. eyes searching the people in the room with him.  
Caitlin puts her hand on top of Barry's, "To family."  
Cisco jogs the few steps it takes to reach Caitlin's side and places his hand on top of hers, "To family."  
The three members turn their eyes to Len.

Slowly, carefully, as if the man expects them to change their minds, Len puts his hand on top of theirs. He looks at each person in turn before smiling, "To family."

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the show or the series.


End file.
